One Comes Home….And Another Leaves

May is going to be a bittersweet month for me. I have two children a daughter and a son-in-law. One will be coming home and one will be leaving.

My daughter is in her third and final year of college. She will be graduating on April 27th with dual Associate degrees. She will have one degree in Culinary Arts and another in Restaurant Management. She has plans to become a pastry chef. After her graduation and finals she will be moving back home. She will be looking for a job and moving back in with me. My daughter was married last June but has continued to live with me when not at college. She knew when she got married that her husband was going to be deployed in a year. My daughter and her husband decided it would be best if she were to live with me while he is gone. They have a dog, which I gave them for a wedding present, that will be very excited when she comes home to stay.

My son-in-law is being deployed to Africa for 9 months June 1st. One day before their one year wedding anniversary. We have known about his deployment for over a year, but it will not make his leaving any easier. Currently he is attending college alongside his wife. He has to leave college to get ready for deployment one day before my daughter is to graduate. This is causing much heartbreak for all of us. We know his military obligations must come first, but the fact that he has to miss his wife’s graduation and their first anniversary both by one day is a tough pill to swallow.

My daughter and I have been through many difficult times in the past and came out fine. This will be just another test of our strength and faith in God. I will be there for my daughter everyday to help her get through the lonely times without her husband. We have learned to appreciate what we have and to take nothing for granted. Each day is a gift not a given and has to be treated as such. No one knows what will happen in the future, but we have to enjoy what we have now for it might soon be taken away.

The joy of my daughter coming home will be somewhat overshadowed by the sadness of my son-in-law’s leaving. They say where God closes a door he opens a window. I pray this will hold true.

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Nor do we have two heads or carry leprosy. We walk among you unnoticed until normal little everyday things force us to fall apart in public and reveal ourselves. This is my place to vent my frustrations, wallow when I need to and discover a new future because the unthinkable did happen and my husband died suddenly at 38 leaving me and our two little babies under the age of two behind.